St. Landry democrat., 1887-12-17
[COpurtlhted, ISL

-rripriOn The nut crop is unusually heavy.
! the ground being covered with acorns, mast
and hickory nuts, and last but not least, IN
/ the eyes Of the plantation seer, the hornet
nests are built close to the ground. Inc "lh
negro would hold man skepuc, boIa
1gnOstic, if he presumed to doubt the value
! If these two signs. 1t aCCOrdS well with the
| generous heart Of Dame Nature that a severe
winter be preceded by bounteous haTTest"l
| food for the chipmunk and squirrel, but
! here seems little reason for imagining thil
the hornet takes any interest IN our winters.
/ He emigratcS to q warm climate as soon as
| he grass is aged enough TO wear beard 81
! white frost, and those of the family unable
70 depart are atfectionately left to freeze to
/ death by their practical relatives. Hence;
! the exact bearing Of q depressed or elevated
/ hornets nest on the midness or rigor Of the
/ approaching winter is difficult to ascertain,
but it is a 'straw' highly valued by the
negro, as much SO as are ar-currents
and isothermal lines by the meteorolo-
gist. Old winter-grayhair and se'late
rs he is-loves to deceive people. His TENTS
are worthy of strateglSt: One Wo'1ld
scarcely imagine as he strOlls out IN the
4 orious Indian summer weather, and enjoys
tn gentle, loving touch of the soft ar, that
it slay be but the spy Of as fierce winter a.
eyt hOWlcd about your gables, and tWeaked
yo,.{ ears and nose. The very mist thar
ha., rs about the woods may be but the dust
raiA d by the steady march Of the icy cohorts
as they follow in the footsteps OF their In
dian spy.
Some years old winter makes preparations
for an early and vigorous campaign. As
early as September, he sends his lleutenant,
Jack Frost, t. smooth his way, to cut down
vegetation, and scatter the leaves from the
trees; then the north wind comes blowing
her trumpet at the gate and demanding an
unconditional surrender and a snow s4uall
scatters its doWny flakes in October. " hat
a terrible winter is coming, beginning :"
early and ST tiercely, one shoulders at the
thought and estimates his wood pile,
but 10, the deceptive old fellow never
had an idea Of coming this way. Christmas
and New Years Day are green and one Of
the mildest winters on record gli,Ie> down the
groove of time. Winter has lost much Of
its terror in these days Of tight houses, fur
naCes and perfected stoves, but it was vastly
different in my boyhood days. | was raised
in a Maryland farmhouse which would
have suited an advocate of ventilation to
dot. One day the carpet was torn up by the
force Of the wind coming through CreVlces
in the floor. Great fires roared in the wide
tireplACes, the flames leapng up like kanga-
roos as they devoured half cord OF wood,
but as we sat in front of this glowing mass,
our faces would be half roasted while
the cold played game Of hide and seek up
and down our Spines. and six feet from the
fire ones breath issued from ones mouth
like smoke. The hall reminded one of Nova
Icmba and the taking Of water for lavatOTv
purposes to the bed-chumber was abandoned
it would be a solid cake ere morning. [
have often awakened in the morning to find
that the snow had insidOusIy crept in the
Creyices about the window and lay in
a pile on the floor. With all this ex-
posure everybody was healthy and Wig
OrOus and colds were not half as fire.
nor now = lon DC Sr1ny hfa
ground We boys had wet feet, for the gum
shoe had not as vet penetrated the pine for
eSts iii our region, we took Oft our soaked
stockings at night and went t. bed, I'M
troubled by thoughts of possible evil results
which never came The negro suffered He
is tropical animal. and can sleep SweetIy
with the fierce glare of a Jul MONDAY fall
ing full upon him, but he breads the cold.
Severe nights they would assemble in one
apartment and huddle around a roaring fire
like SO many sheep, keeping warm by con-
tact.
The lowest temperature I ever experienced
was 2U0 below zero in q New Hampshire
town. | arrived there late in the evening
and the following morning was one Of the
most beautiful had ever beheld. Not a cloud
tiecked the bright blue of the heavens, and
the sun poured his rays on the snow-covered
town with all the brlliancv Of May morn
ing. 1t looked inviting out of doors; that
sun must be warm, and | wondered
as | looked out of the window at
paSsers-by envelOped head, nose and ears
in multitarious wrappngs. After breakfast
| dOnned a medium overCOat and went out.
1t was perfectly calm. but the atmosphere
which was full ofluminOus particles floating
about, wet my face as though had pressed
it against wall Of ice. The flesh puCkered
and made grimaceS. Even then did not
realize anything abnormal about the tenn
perature, until a man remarked, You had
nose Will trz." Then Iawoke to the true state
of affairs and fastened back to the hotel. Just
outside the door was q thermometer. and it
registered 2O3 below zero. Certainly more
deceptive day had never seen a man could
pleasantly freeze to death ami all the time
think it rather mild day OF course had
the wind been blowing it would have been
unheurabp
If YOU Will pardon the paradox. this day
2Oo below zero, was very cold. but the coolest
night | ever felt was in Austin, Texas, when
he mercury stood 80 above; at least | suf-
serel more \ wind commenced blowing in
he evening-a wind that had been prepar-
ing for this special excursion ever since
autumn on the summit If Pixies Peak fill
ing itself with the essence of cold until it was
a concentrated iceberg then with whO0p
and a veil it swOuped down on the Texan
plains, and whew how cold it was The
first ice in many years formed, and people
nearly persisted.
Our cold spells are however, but weak ,punv
infants compared with the fierce warriors
which scour the great Western prairies
Think of a blizzard OF driving snow hving
along at express train speed and the wind
sharpened to $50 below zero. Then imagine
that frigid giant ruling in the Arctic regions.
First. mercury freezes at 400 below zero, then
alcohol is used until the thermometer sinksto
100 below zero. A man exposed a few mo-
ments only, to such cold would fall insen-
sibe, the blood gushing from nose and
mouth, while iron touched would scar as if
red hot Sometimes the area of extreme cold
makes foray into southerly regions. In 1885
mercury froze at Bangor, Me-. which means
100 below zero Boston and New York har-
bors were completely ice-locked, and wagons
crossed the Potomac on the ice Some
periods Of terrible cold in Europe are men
toned in old chronicles. The "Chronioues
de ST Denis record that in 544 birds fell to
the ground frozen in mid-air, while in $50
one-third of the population of France per-
lshed of cold, the accumulated SHOWS pre-
venting people getting fuel from the woods.
Ten hundred and siXty-eight must have been
a lugubrious season in England according
to old chronicles, such was the dearth of food
that people ate dogs, horses and finally
each other A German chronicle states that
in 112i, near Brabant. cells crawled from the
ponds and sought warmth in the barns. In